One Night With a Santini

by Melissa Schroeder

  “Shut up. Good Lord, you all have the manners of goats. Quit calling my pregnancy an unfortunate situation. The next person who does will regret it.” Declan’s face actually paled and the others all nodded. “So, does someone want to tell me what happened after the whole Brando was sad deal?”

  “Hey, Kaitlin, it isn’t their fault.”

  She looked at Brando, knowing he was the one man for her, the one that made her life complete and said, “Shut up. I’ll deal with your idiocy in a second.”

  Emmet stepped up then. “He just had a few beers, and we had a match.”

  She closed her eyes for a second, then opened them. “You took him to a match and then you let him play?”

  “Aw, Kitty Kat, we didn’t mean for him to get hurt,” Declan said. “And, well, hell, he’s a Marine.”

  “Let me get this straight. You took Brando, who had been drinking because he is about as stupid as the rest of you, and had him play in a rugby match?”

  “We thought with a little beer in him, he might be more relaxed. You know, he wouldn’t get hurt,” Aeden said.

  “He has a concussion,” she yelled. “Oh my God, you are all idiots. Every single one of you. You all deserve to be beaten for letting this happen.”

  “It isn’t that bad,” Brando said, his voice sounding disgruntled. She looked at him, and all the fear she had been fighting exploded into anger.

  “Shut up. You have a concussion. What the hell were you thinking? Is this your idea of showing me that you are ready to be my husband and a father?” He had nothing to say to that. She closed her eyes. “I can’t believe I love you. You’re an idiot.”

  “I have to say that I agree with the young lady,” a strong female voice said from behind her.

  Kaitlin opened her eyes and turned. She found a woman close to her mother’s age smiling at her. A large man, who bore a striking resemblance to Brando, stood behind her.

  “Aunt Joey,” Brando said, love and embarrassment filling his voice. “I didn’t know they called you.”

  She looked past Kaitlin to Brando. “I’m your emergency contact here. Your mother would never forgive me if I didn’t check in on you.”

  Oh, god, this was horrible. Brando had told her more than one story about Joey Santini, the matriarch of the Santini clan. She had just called her nephew an idiot in front of her.

  She waited for Joey to say something horrible to her, but she just offered her a kind smile.

  “Since Brando has forgotten all the manners I know his mother taught him, I will do the introductions.”

  “Sorry. I have a concussion, you know.”

  She gave him a quelling look. “No excuse.”

  He opened his mouth, but Joey narrowed her eyes. Then, she turned to Kaitlin with a smile. “I’m Joey Santini, and this is my husband Stewart Santini.”

  “Just call me Papa,” he said with a smile. “You must be Kaitlin.”

  She nodded. “And these are my idiot brothers, Emmet, Declan, and Aeden.”

  Joey smiled at them. “I take it you had something to do with this?”

  “Yeah, we took him to a rugby match.”

  “Aunt Joey, it isn’t their fault,” Brando said.

  Kaitlin opened her mouth to refute him, but Joey took over.

  “No, it is all of your faults. Never fails when you get a bunch of men together, they do idiot things.”

  “Aunt Joey…”

  “Son, I would just nod and keep your mouth shut,” Papa said from the corner.

  “Here two days and you do this? Your mother is going to have a fit when I tell her.”

  “You don’t have to tell her, do you?”

  The look she gave Brando almost made Kaitlin giggle. It was so mean Kaitlin knew for sure she would have started crying on the spot.

  “Are you suggesting that I lie to your mother?”

  “Again, just shut up and nod, Brand,” Papa said, amusement threading his voice.

  “Now, I think Kaitlin and I need a moment alone together.”

  Kaitlin shook her head. “Oh—”

  “Let’s get you some water,” Joey said, as she slipped an arm around Kaitlin. She led her out of the room as she heard Brando say something and his uncle’s deep voice responding. It did not sound good for him.

  When they were alone in the hallway, Joey said, “Go ahead.”

  “What?”

  “Cry. I know you want to, but you couldn’t do it in front of them.”

  She opened her mouth to refute Joey. Instead, a sob came out. A shudder ran through her body, and the terror she had held at bay broke loose. Joey took her into her arms and let her cry. When she was finally done, she sniffled and straightened.

  “Sorry about that,” she mumbled.

  “Don’t be. Strong women need to let it go sometimes,” Joey said as she offered Kaitlin a tissue.

  She smiled as she took it, wiping the remaining tears from her cheeks.

  When Kaitlin finally had herself under control, Joey gave her one last squeeze. “Time to go back in there and face the idiot man.”

  “I just want to go home.”

  Joey nodded. “Yes, but you have to clean house.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It’s important that a Santini man learns the art of groveling. If not, he will become an insufferable ass. It’s your job as his soon to be wife to get him to do that.”

  “I didn’t say I was marrying him.”

  Joey shook her head as a smile curved her lips. “Honey, you don’t have to say it. It’s written all over your face.”

  She shook her head. “He’s a bully.”

  “He’s pushy. They all tend to get that way from time to time.”

  “Why do you put up with it?”

  She grinned. “I can assure you, they are worth every bit of irritation they cause. Now, go let that bully know that you aren’t going to let him tell you what to do.”

  * * * *

  Within moments of her brothers leaving, they all came up with excuses to leave. Brando didn’t blame them.

  “So, I see you got you one with some spice in her?” Papa said to him.

  “Yeah, I guess so. I don’t know why she’s so upset.”

  “None of you learn until you say the vows. Never back talk to a woman when you get yourself hurt. Just nod and do anything they tell you to do.”

  “She didn’t give me a chance.”

  “You got hurt and she feels guilty from what I heard.”

  “We had a fight. I proposed and she turned me down.”

  Papa nodded as he walked over to the bed. “Yeah, we heard about the unfortunate situation.”

  “Shit. Don’t tell Mom.”

  “You don’t have to worry about me.”

  He closed his eyes. “Aunt Joey is going to call, isn’t she?”

  “You can bet she will. So you found out she was pregnant, then you proposed?”

  “Sort of.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, she told me, we did stuff, then I told her we needed to set a date.”

  He chuckled. “I’m starting to understand what happened. You need to make sure that woman knows you love her or you’re never going to get her to marry you.”

  Brando blinked. “She has to know.”

  “Funny thing is, just because you tell her you want to marry her doesn’t mean you’re doing it because you love her. At least that’s the way she sees it. Make sure you let her know, or you might just lose her.”

  * * * *

  By the time Brando and Kaitlin arrived home, his head felt as if it might fall off his body—not to mention his skin hurt. He was pretty sure that there wasn’t an inch of flesh on his body that didn’t ache. Damn, this was almost as bad as his first week of training.

  She unlocked the door, stepped in and let him walk through. She had barely spoken to him since they left the hospital, which told him she was re
ally, really mad. He had never seen her like this before. Her brothers had told him that when Kaitlin gave him the silent treatment, he was in a lot of trouble.

  She shut the door behind him, and then took his arm. “I don’t need your help.”

  Kaitlin said nothing and continued to guide him to her bedroom.

  “What did you and Joey talk about?”

  “None of your business.”

  “She’s my aunt.”

  “Now you are just being a baby.”

  Brando frowned. He sat on the bed and watched her move about the room. He knew he screwed up, but for the life of him, he could not seem to understand what the hell he did. Okay, so maybe his uncle might be right. But it didn’t mean he knew how to fix it.

  “Why are you mad at me?”

  “Because you got hurt being stupid.”

  “I wasn’t being stupid.”

  She stopped in front of him.

  “Really? Because I call getting drunk and playing a game of rugby stupid.” He opened his mouth, but apparently she wasn’t done. “I don’t know what the hell you were thinking. You are going to be a father in less than a year, and you’re out there acting like an idiot with my idiot brothers. What would have happened if you—”

  “Why did you say no?” he asked.

  She blinked. “What?”

  “Why did you say no? You said you loved me when I was in the hospital.”

  Her shoulders sagged. “You proposed because I was pregnant.”

  He shook his head. “No, I did not.”

  She used the back of her hand to wipe away the tears. “Yes, you did.”

  “Dammit, I think I know why I asked you to marry me.”

  “Then why did you propose?”

  “Because I love you. Good lord, you are thicker than some of your brothers. You have to be the stupidest smart person I know.”

  He looked up at her and found her eyes filled with tears.

  “Oh, baby, I’m sorry.”

  He grabbed her hand and tugged her closer, until she was standing between his legs. She shook her head.

  “Don’t you know how much I love you?”

  She drew in a shuddering breath. “It’s because—”

  “Dammit, don’t say it’s because of the baby. It had nothing to do with that. Don’t you know that without you, I’m nothing?”

  The tears were now streaming down her face. “Brando.”

  He shook his head as he stood up. He cupped her face and brushed away the tears with his thumbs. “Don’t cry, Kait. I can’t take it when you’re sad.”

  “How can you say things like that to me and not expect me to cry?”

  He kissed her.

  “I knew I wanted you the moment I saw you all those years ago during our freshman year, but you were taken. Now that I had a chance at you, I rushed things.” He shook his head. “I did in New Orleans, and I did now. Mainly because I was scared.”

  Kaitlin’s eyes widened.

  “Yeah,” he said. “I rushed it again now, but I promise you, I had planned on marrying you from the moment you told me you weren’t married to Glen.”

  She shook her head. “Are you trying to tell me that you had this in your head when we slept together?”

  “Yeah. I know it’s hard to believe but the moment I met you, I knew you were for me. Hell, I even talked to Carlos about it. He’s already agreed to be my best man.”

  She started to cry again.

  “The one thing that scares every Santini man is the idea of losing the woman he loves. I can’t lose you, Kait, you’re my center, my whole world.”

  “Oh, Brando.”

  “Is that a yes?” he asked holding his breath.

  She nodded and kissed him. He tried to deepen the kiss, but she stopped him by putting a hand on his chest.

  “I might have forgiven you, but you need rest. Your mother would never forgive me, I am sure. You have a concussion.”

  “What she doesn’t know won’t kill her.”

  She rolled her eyes as he pulled her closer into his embrace. He gave her a quick kiss.

  “Besides, I can lay there and let you do all the work.”

  She laughed, the sound of it filling his heart with happiness. He cupped her face and looked into her eyes.

  “I love you, Kaitlin.

  She smiled. “I love you, Brando. Let’s go.”

  “I’ll follow you anywhere, as long as we’re together.”

  Then, true to his word, he followed her up the stairs.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Kaitlin laughed as Anthony Santini spun her around the restaurant. She hadn’t had one moment’s rest since they’d arrived at the location for the reception. She had been passed from one Santini to the next, not to mention that most of them she had no idea who they were. The only thing she knew was that they were all sexy—and she didn’t even want to start talking about the British side of the family.

  The wedding had come together faster than anything she had seen. Marcella Santini appeared, and she and Joey, along with Kaitlin’s mother Deidre, had put it together. Vicente’s wife owned a nursery, so that had made it even easier.

  Declan had closed the restaurant for the day, and it was filled with Fitzpatricks and Santinis. It was amazing that so many of them had made it there for the wedding, even for one day. Even Nando, the baby of the family, caught a hop over from Germany for the ceremony. Family mattered to them.

  “You’re making me dizzy, Anthony.”

  He smiled down at her. “I figured you have to already be dizzy to agree to marry my brother. Why not run away with me?”

  All of the Santini men were charmers. She had been overwhelmed by each of them. The best thing was that they treated her as if she were one of them. NO one cared about the circumstances. They just wished them well.

  “Because I love Brando.”

  “See, dizzy.”

  “I still get kind of queasy though, so you might not want spin me that much.”

  “Oh, okay.”

  He stopped immediately and she laughed. “So, I take it Brando has been telling stories about me?”

  “He said something about you trying out for the Exorcist.”

  She shook her head. “I am going to beat him.”

  “If you do, can you make sure to tell me so I can get it on video. That bad boy would be online in an instant.”

  She laughed. “I don’t think that’s the way I should start off my marriage.”

  He looked past her to something over her shoulder. “Hey, your maid of honor is trying to get your attention.”

  She glanced over and saw Wendy waving at her.

  “Thank you for the dance, sir.”

  He chuckled and leaned down to give her a kiss on the cheek. “Welcome to the family, Kaitlin. Brando is definitely a lucky man.”

  She thanked him, then made her way through the crowd to Wendy. It hadn’t been easy dealing with her and Aeden lately. Something had happened between them, but both of them refused to talk about it. The fact that they weren’t yelling at each other told her it had to have been something really bad.

  “What do you need?” she asked.

  “I need to talk with you.”

  “Okay.”

  “In private,” she said, looking around at the crowd. There was definitely something bothering her best friend.

  “Let’s go,” she said, grabbing Wendy’s hand. She tugged her into one of the rooms Declan used for private parties.

  She released Wendy’s hand and waited for her to talk. But she just wandered around the room saying nothing.

  “Wendy.” She waited for her friend to look at her. “What’s up?”

  Drawing in a deep breath, she blurted out, “I’m leaving Tuesday.”

  “What? Where are you going?”

  She sighed. “You know I volunteered to go to Africa. It finally came through.”

  Kaitlin shook
her head, unable to come to terms with what Wendy had just dropped on her head.

  “Wait, you can’t leave. I’m having a baby.”

  Wendy shook her head. “I’ll be back for that. I double-checked the dates. Can’t miss that.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” Kaitlin asked, knowing that she was starting to sound whiney. “I don’t want you to leave me now. How am I supposed to handle all this without you? And why didn’t you tell me?”

  “You asked me that twice.”

  “Shut up. I’m mad at you.”

  But she wasn’t. The terror now icing her veins left her cold inside.

  Wendy took hold of both of her hands. “Because this is about you, not me. But, you two are leaving tomorrow and when you get back, I’ll be gone.”

  She frowned feeling as if she were close to tears. “I don’t like it.”

  Wendy laughed. “I know you don’t, but I want to do this. They need good nurses over there. You know they do.”

  She sighed. How could she yell at a friend who was sacrificing so much to help out with the latest Ebola outbreak? It was a sacrifice not many people would make. She admired her more for what she was doing.

  “You’ll be back before this one comes?” she asked patting her belly.

  She nodded. “I’m going for three months. They had someone who backed out at the last moment because she was pregnant. They put out a call two weeks ago.”

  Kaitlin tugged her closer and hugged her. “Please, be safe.”

  “I will.” With a squeeze, she released Kaitlin. “I need to go tell your mother. She’s not going to be happy.”

  “Have you told your parents?”

  Wendy’s smile faded.

  “I haven’t talked to them since last March. I’ll send them a postcard. And don’t,” she said. “Don’t tell me I should contact them. They suck.”

  Kaitlin smiled as she blinked back tears.

  “I love you, Kaitlin.”

  “Love you too.”

  She slipped out the door. A second later Brando came in. He put his arms around her. He surrounded her with his warmth…his love. The pain she had been feeling seemed to fade.

  “I can’t believe she’s going over there.”

  He kissed the top of her head. “You know she wanted to.”

  She nodded. Then she looked up at him. “Hey, have I told you how sexy you are in your uniform?”